Pulpwood,pesticides, and people. Controlling spruce budworm in northeastern North America

The eastern spruce budworm is a major forest pest over the continental range of the spruce-fir forest ecosystem and its southern ecotonal fringes in Canada and the northeastern United States. The current budworm outbreak illustrates the difficulty of arriving at economically sound and publicly acceptable forest pest control policies. Policies ranging from no use of chemical control to annual widespread crop protection have been adopted. There is no single all-around best policy for spruce budworm control. Chemical spray programs have demonstrably slowed the normal progress of mortality due to budworm, but have not eradicated the pest. Where industry remains heavily dependent on a fully utilized spruce-fir forest, no easy, low-cost solutions to the budworm problem exist. Reliance on spraying will have to be reduced and plans made to utilize higher levels of tree mortality and to manage the forest for lower future vulnerability.     

Economics of an ecotourism operation in Belize

The economic inputs and outputs for the Possum Point Biological Station in Belize during 1990–1992 are described to illustrate some aspects of an ecotourism operation. Eight hundred fifty-four people in 59 groups visited Possum Point during the study period to tour rain forests, estuaries, and coral reefs. The economic input to Possum Point from these groups increased from $74,552 in 1990 to $166,268 in 1992. Outputs were for license fees, capital improvements, goods and services, labor, fossil fuels, and development of a historic sugar mill site. An annual donation was also made to a scholarship fund for local Belizean students. The net cash balance of income and outputs changed from negative (−$6678) in 1990 to positive (+$4811) in 1992, suggesting development of the economic operation. Possum Point meets the economic criteria for ecotourism by feeding back some tourist monies for community and environmental support, particularly donations for the sugar mill site and the scholarship fund. Most of the outputs from Possum Point (about 80%) were retained in the local economy through employment and purchases, which have a positive influence on the local community. We conclude that ecotourism operations, such as Possum Point, offer important sustainable development opportunities for Belize.     

中国和美国冷原子吸收分光光度法测汞的比较

我国已加入WTO，国际间的合作日益加强。环境监测部门不仅要了解本国本行业的规范，还应了解世界，了解国外的标准分析方法。对中国和美国的4种冷原子吸收分光光度法测定汞作了比较；提出用冷原子吸收分光光度法测定汞时，应按照不同的样品及不同的要求，选择合适的方法以实现质量控制的要求。     

Evaluation of zoobenthic assemblages and recovery following petroleum spill in a coastal area of Río de la Plata estuarine system, South America

The objective of this work was to analyse zoobenthic assemblages in the coastal sector of the Río de La Plata, Argentina, after a petroleum spill. Sampling stations were located in representative sites of various landscapes. Structure, composition, physico-chemical parameters and seasonal changes were recorded in order to assess taxocenosis evolution during the period 1999–2003. Recovery signs were estimated by means of biotic indices and the presence of sensitive species. Tolerant species were dominant in heavily polluted sites, with low diversity and water quality values, according to the biotic indices used. In certain zones, sediment quality remains impoverished, with a visible oil film on the surface. However, during the last sampling, some points showed an increase in biotic indices, pointing to a slight improvement in environmental conditions.     

美、日武器装备环境试验设施

介绍了美军三大自然环境试验中心、海军武器试验基地、麦金利气候实验室和日军5个环境试验站的试验设施、试验能力,同时概述了美、日军用环境试验标准的发展历史及现状。     

Rainfall Runoff Relationships for a Cloud Forest Watershed in Central America: Implications for Water Resource Engineering1

Caballero, Luis A., Alon Rimmer, Zachary M. Easton, and Tammo S. Steenhuis, 2012. Rainfall Runoff Relationships for a Cloud Forest Watershed in Central America: Implications for Water Resource Engineering. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(5): 1022‐1031. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2012.00668.x Abstract: Understanding the basic relationships between rainfall and runoff is vital for effective management and utilization of scarce water resources. Especially, this is important in Central America with widespread potable water shortage during the dry months of the monsoon. Potential good water sources are cloud forests, but little information concerning its potential is available to water supply engineers. Our objective is to define rainfall‐runoff‐base flow relationships for a cloud forest catchment. Flumes were installed for measuring river flow in four subwatersheds in La Tigra National Park, Honduras. One of the four watersheds was a 636‐ha subwatershed (WS1) with 60% cloud forest coverage. Precipitation averaged 1,130 mm/yr over the entire basin. About half of the total rainfall became runoff for the cloud forest watershed whereas, for the adjacent undisturbed forested watershed, the total discharge was <20% of the amount of precipitation. Infiltration rates were generally greater than rainfall rates. Therefore, most rainfall infiltrated into the soil, especially in the upper, steep, and well‐drained portions of the watershed. Direct runoff was generated from saturated areas near the river and exposed bedrock. This research provides compelling evidence that base flow is the primary contributor to streamflow during both wet and dry seasons in cloud forest catchments. Protecting these flow processes over time is critical for the sustained provision of potable water.     

The imperiled fish fauna in the Nicaragua Canal zone

Large‐scale infrastructure projects commonly have large effects on the environment. The planned construction of the Nicaragua Canal will irreversibly alter the aquatic environment of Nicaragua in many ways. Two distinct drainage basins (San Juan and Punta Gorda) will be connected and numerous ecosystems will be altered. Considering the project's far‐reaching environmental effects, too few studies on biodiversity have been performed to date. This limits provision of robust environmental impact assessments. We explored the geographic distribution of taxonomic and genetic diversity of freshwater fish species (Poecilia spp., Amatitlania siquia, Hypsophrys nematopus, Brycon guatemalensis, and Roeboides bouchellei) across the Nicaragua Canal zone. We collected population samples in affected areas (San Juan, Punta Gorda, and Escondido drainage basins), investigated species composition of 2 drainage basins and performed genetic analyses (genetic diversity, analysis of molecular variance) based on mitochondrial cytb. Freshwater fish faunas differed substantially between drainage basins (Jaccard similarity = 0.33). Most populations from distinct drainage basins were genetically differentiated. Removing the geographic barrier between these basins will promote biotic homogenization and the loss of unique genetic diversity. We found species in areas where they were not known to exist, including an undescribed, highly distinct clade of live bearing fish (Poecilia). Our results indicate that the Nicaragua Canal likely will have strong impacts on Nicaragua's freshwater biodiversity. However, knowledge about the extent of these impacts is lacking, which highlights the need for more thorough investigations before the environment is altered irreversibly.     

美国地下水中高氯酸盐的污染状况及处理方法分析

本文通过对美国地下水中高氯酸盐的污染状况、污染来源及处理方法的研究,浅析了该国在该领域的技术状况和污染处理的运营模式。     

Vertical distribution of nonylphenol and nonylphenol ethoxylates in sedimentary core from the Beipaiming Channel, North China

The vertical profiles of nonylphenol （NP） and nonylphenol ethoxylates （NPEOs） were investigated in a sediment core from the Beipaiming Channel, North China using high sensitive LC-MS and GC-MS metthods In this core, relatively high concentrations of NP and NPEOs occurred in the surface sediment （≤40 cm）, with the maximum value of NP and NPEOs reaching 3539 and 12735 mg/g, respectively, whereas, no NP or NPEOs were detected in deeper sediments （〉40 cm）. The high concentrations of NP and NPEOs in the surface layers suggested recent inputs in this area. NPEOs with short ethoxy chains （NPnEO, n=0-3） were dominant in the NPEO mixture with percentages from 54% to 78%, which were similar to the distribution of homolog NPEO in effluents from nearby sewage treatment plants （STPs）, indicating that the channel received the effluents from these STPs. The sewage treatment ratio was quite similar to that found in North America before the 1980s. Finally, the concentrations of NP and NPEOs were related to the total organic carbon （TOC） （p〈0.001）, suggesting that TOC was an important factor for vertical distribution of NPEOs and NP from the Beipaiming Channel.     

使用者成本法的完善与美国油气资源使用者成本的估算

论文通过对使用者成本法的关键变量折现率的文献梳理,提出使用社会折现率来消除目前使用者成本法估算中对折现率选取的随意性,在对美国社会折现率估算的基础上,运用使用者成本法对美国油气资源使用者成本进行估算,发现美国从2000年以来,油气资源使用者成本上升显著,从2000年的185.08×10⁸美元上升到2008年的2 264.28×10⁸美元,并且发现油气资源使用者成本的涨落受社会折现率的影响较大。用美国油气资源权利金实缴数据同其使用者成本进行比较,得出美国油气资源权利金的增长速度慢于其使用者成本的增长速度,相关费金对使用者成本的补偿程度在下降,有偿使用费金对使用者成本的补偿比例从2002年高位的42.68%下降到2008年的10.83%。